Goose berries

[Herbgardener]

Has anyone ever grown goose berries? We have some in our woods and I got some cuttings but I would like some more info. Do you take cuttings before or after they have flowered and had berries? Do you root cuttings in water or in soil?

 

[patandchickens]

I have some cultivated gooseberry bushes from da store, but the only wild ones around here are the little inedible 'bristly gooseberries' so I have no experience with propagating.

By reputation I believe they are not the very easiest things to root (esp the British types), and I think that hardwood cuttings in early fall are usually recommended, in soil not water of course?

Layering would be easier -- where you take a long enough lower branch, bend it so it touches the ground perhaps a foot from its end, wound the branch slightly there, and pin it to the ground (wire or rock) and mound earth over it. In a year or so it is likely to have rooted enough to be separated from the parent plant and moved.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat